Energizing experiences spark philanthropic support

After over 30 years in the energy industry, Eric Axford, ’95 MBA, is now in charge of how he spends his time. Together over a virtual conversation, we unpack some details of his successful career, his love for professional development and engagement and a passion for philanthropy with the organizations that matter most to him.

Growing up in Calgary, one could say that Axford was born into energy. His father was a renowned geologist who was inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, known for his work in discovering petroleum on the east coast of Canada in the 1960s. It’s no wonder that Axford started preparing for a career in the sciences while in high school. However, Axford also took an economics elective in his first year at the University of Calgary and really enjoyed and excelled at it. He decided to transfer to an economics major, rounded out with as many business courses as he could. He began working in the oil patch in Calgary, but it wasn’t long after that he knew that he wanted to pursue an MBA at the University of Alberta.

Axford applied for a job with the Government of Alberta in Oil Sands policy. “I didn’t even know what the oil sands were back then,” said Axford jokingly, “but it was a good way to feed myself and go back to school.” He worked on his MBA part-time while working full-time. Along the way, he also had a role as the government's renewable energy manager which exposed him to early sustainability concepts. “And many life-changes happened – I met my future wife, got married and we had a child here. I also had a unique opportunity to move from the Department of Energy into the energy minister's office just as Premier Ralph Klein and his new government were launching a transformative change agenda.” 

Because Axford had this crazy job that kept him travelling all the time and working long days, his advisors at the U of A suggested that he complete a thesis. That’s when he started working with Royston Greenwood and Bob Hinings. They convinced Axford that he was living out a classic change experiment in the provincial government and to consider a paper in strategic organizational change theory.

“I really enjoyed it and actually found it quite fascinating. I completed the thing and graduated with my MBA which was awesome,” said Axford. “Those two (Greenwood and Hinings) do not even understand how significant they were in shaping my career to be as successful as I was.” “Exposing me to leading-edge change theories and thinking deeply about interactions of complex systems and diverse stakeholder interests made me think much more about leadership, strategic change and critical sustainability concepts too.”

After his MBA, Axford realized that he wanted to get back into the industry and with his background, it was only logical for him to reach out to oil sands pioneer Suncor Energy. Axford spent the next 24 years at Suncor, starting in a relatively junior position in Fort McMurray and working his way right up to the C-Suite, most recently as Executive VP and Chief Sustainability Officer. At Suncor, he was exposed to many diverse leadership experiences from operational to functional roles, business unit and central roles, mergers and acquisitions, multiple geographies and driving bold technology development and innovation. He learned early on that it is often the “softer” people and leadership skills which enable one to successfully lead change in complex environments, which served him well at Suncor.

“I think it's been something that's helped differentiate me,” said Axford. “I'm just so fortunate to have had all that experience in both industry and government. The MBA to me was a real cherry on top of my other academic training and early work experiences at the time that helped launch and propel me into an impactful position in business, where I wanted to be.”

Axford’s experience at the school led him to become actively engaged in many different ways with the U of A through time, including philanthropy. He currently serves on the Business Advisory Council. His reason for doing so?

“I’m just very committed to Alberta. I love the school. I want to give back from a successful career. I have skills and experiences that are valued by students, faculty and administration alike. I also know I have been a financial benefactor of the whole experience to date and it's kind of my time to give back.”

Axford has generously supported the School with a gift focused on entrepreneurial thinking activities. The gift contributes to a multitude of needs including an industry partnered ‘Impact Series,’ (experiential learning activities like case competitions, design jams and hackathons in areas like strategy and innovation, sustainability and social change and business resilience) along with curricular innovations and redesign to ensure that entrepreneurial thinking concepts play a prominent role in core business courses. There are also plans to build an Experiential Learning Record where students will be able to keep track of all of the activities they participate in while at the School. This will be a beneficial tool moving forward as students plan for their careers. Axford explains that he feels so good about giving to the U of A in this way — it’s creating a broader system of support and skills for students. He hopes that every student at some point would like to donate back to their university while looking for those bigger opportunities to connect, just like he has.

As he settles into his retirement from Suncor, Axford realizes having control of your own time again is a real gift. “Some great advice I got from some of my own advisors was to not change too much too quickly as I changed gears. It is a different intensity, and you can choose more of where to create your own ongoing impact.” Axford is able to put more time into things that he wasn’t able to before, concentrate more on physical health and mental wellness, making sure he’s better connected again with family, friends, colleagues and several causes he cares about. “It's about doing the things I want to do, not the stuff I have to do.”

And for those of us still in the building blocks of our careers, Axford gives me hope: “It's just so nice to have the luxury of discretionary time to give. Allocating time in an executive role feels like you're on a treadmill constantly as much of your career can, and no matter what your career, you probably feel you're often driven by others.” 

“I retired from a truly great career at Suncor, but not from life. I’m now looking forward to making big impacts on the things that matter most to me. High on that list for me is definitely the U of A and lifelong learning.”

Sarah Kowalevsky is the associate director of development for the Alberta School of Business.